JOHN HOWARD WHITING John Howard Whiting, whose record as a banker and financier entitles him to representation among the honored dead of Mount Pleasant, and whose life, in its kindly purposes and upright conduct, won him the respect and honor of all with whom he was associated, was born in Tyrone, New York, December 6. 1834, his parents being Timothy and Sarah Ann (McCall) Whiting. The first ancestors of the family in America came from England to this country and settled in Massachusetts, being among the prominent colonial representatives in the new world.  The Whitings come of a family of very ancient lineage in England. The branch from which John Whiting was descended came from the city of Boston, Lincolnshire, England, which had been the chief place of their residence from 1313, or the sixth year in the reign of King Edward III. The name was variously spelled and we take up the line at a point where there is no question as to the authenticity of the line of descent.  John Whiting, who was born at Boston, England, was a member of the common council of that city in 1590, was mayor in 1600, vice-admiral of Lincolnshire in 1602, and was buried October 20, 1617. His son, Samuel Whiting, born in Boston, England, November 20, 1597, won the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts and Doctor of Divinity from Emanuel College of Cambridge. He received the orders in the church, but complaint being made of his nonconformity, he joined the Puritan colony in America, sacrificing large property interests in England in order to come to the United States, where he might worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. He arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 26th of May, 1636, and in the following November removed to Lynn, Massachusetts, then called Saugust, but as a compliment to Mr. Whiting, who had been pastor at Lynn Regis, England, the name of the town was changed to Lynn. There he officiated as a Puritan minister until his death. He was also an overseer at Harvard College, and held other prominent positions that made him a distinguished man in early colonial times. For his second wife he chose Elizabeth St. John, a daughter of Right Oliver St. John. The death of Rev. Whiting occurred at Lynn. Massachusetts, December 11, 1679. His son, Samuel Whiting, born in England. March 25, 1633, was graduated from Harvard College in 1653, and the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him in 1656. He married Dorcas Chester, November 12, 1656 and for fifty years, from 1658, was minister at Billerica. Middlesex county, Massachusetts. He had four children. Of this number Oliver Whiting, the next in the line of direct descent, was born in Billerica, October 8, 1665, and there resided, acting as a magistrate and also as representative to the colonial legislature. He married Anna Danforth, daughter of Captain John Danforth, on the 22nd of January, 1690, and had four children. Samuel Whiting, son of Oliver and Anna Whiting, was born in Billerica. Massachusetts. September 6, 1702. He had four children, two of whom served in the Revolutionary war. His second son, Timothy Whiting, representative of the family in the sixth generation, was born at Billerica. February 24, 1732. and married Sarah Osgood, a daughter of Captain Christopher Osgood. They later lived at Lancaster, New Hampshire. He marched with his two sons in the battles of Concord and Lexington. The first-born, Timothy Whiting (of the seventh generation), was a native of Lancaster. New Hampshire, born June 17, 1758, and was a captain in the Revolutionary war. He married Abigail Kidder, August 21, 1781, and after her death was married again. His first son, John Whiting, was born at Lancaster, New Hampshire, October 10, 1782, and was married June 28. 1800, to Nancy Carter. He was a surveyor and contractor, and with his wife and two children removed to Maine in 1804, being the first of the direct ancestors of our subject to leave Massachusetts. He established his home on the Penobscot river, near Bangor, where he remained until the winter of 1814-15. when with his family he removed to Bath. New York.  Timothy Whiting, the fifth member of that family, was born in Penobscot county, Maine, February 7, 1809. and was a son of Colonel John Whiting, who in 1815 removed to Steuben county. New York, where he followed the occupation of farming. Timothy Whiting was a youth of six years at that time, and when fifteen years of age he entered Prattsburg Academy, where he completed a course of study. He then entered business life as a clerk, and from his earnings saved the capital which enabled him, when twenty years of age, to engage in business on his own account at Painted Post, in partnership with another young man. This venture proved unsuccessful, however, but Mr. Whiting, with his characteristic honor, that was ever above reproach, later paid off all the joint obligations of the firm. In 1835 he removed to Bath, New York, where he carried on merchandising until 1857. He then came to Mount Pleasant with his family. He purchased an interest in a banking house, which was then conducted under the firm style of Brazelton & Whiting. A year later the firm became Clark & Whiting, and so continued until 1858, when it became the Mount Pleasant branch of the State Bank of Iowa, at which time Timothy Whiting was president and John H. Whiting cashier. Timothy Whiting continued in the presidency up to the time of his death, which occurred on the 6th of February, 1887. The institution was a prosperous one, being conducted along safe, conservative lines that awakened public confidence and gained public support. Mr. Whiting was also a large land owner, making extensive investments in real estate in Henry county, but was more widely known as .a prominent financier. He was also interested in the university at Mount Pleasant, and left to it an endowment fund, without aspiration for public office, he served, however, as a trustee of the hospital for the insane of Mount Pleasant, and for eleven years discharged his duty with the utmost fidelity and capability. A liberal supporter of the Methodist Episcopal church, he became a member of that denomination in 1831, and in its work took a most active and helpful part, serving as superintendent of the Sunday school, as president of the County Sunday-school Association, and for twenty years as president of the Henry County Bible Society. He gave five thousand dollars to the Iowa Wesleyan University, on condition that an equal sum should be subscribed by others. He was always unostentatious in his giving, but was most generous, and his spirit of benevolence stood as one of the strong traits in his upright life. He was married at Painted Post, New York, to Miss Sarah A. McCall, a daughter of Ansel and Sarah A. (Shannon) McCall, a native of that town. She was a member of the Presbyterian church, and she died at the family home at the corner of Adams and Henry streets in Mount Pleasant, September 8, 1893. John H. Whiting. whose name introduces this review, pursued his early education in the schools of Bath, afterward studied in Genesee College at Lima, New York, and subsequently entered the Wesleyan University at Aliddletown, Connecticut, from which he was graduated in 1855 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He afterward taught school in Paul [illegible]ing Academy, at Sandwich, Massachusetts, for one year, and then came to Iowa with his father, with whom he was associated in the banking business, entering the banking house of W. P. Brazelton & Company as clerk. He was soon made bookkeeper. His father purchased an interest in the bank, which was then conducted under the firm style of Brazelton & Whiting. One year later the firm became Clark & Whiting-, and so' continued until 1858, when it became the Mount Pleasant branch of the State Bank of Iowa. John H. Whiting acted as assistant cashier until 1862, when he became cashier, and so continued until after the bank was chartered as the National State Bank, in February. 1865. In 1868 he was made vice-president, and in 1887, upon the death of his father, was chosen to the presidency, and so continued until his own demise. He was recognized as one of the leading financiers of the west, and for many years was in active control of the bank, which he made a strong and sound financial institution, inaugurating a safe policy that won the commendation of the general public, the heirs of Timothy Whiting holding the controlling interest. It has always been known as the Whiting Bank, and his alert, enterprising business methods won a gratifying measure of success. The bank building was one of the early substantial structures on the public square of Mount Pleasant.  On the 22d of September, 1858, in Bath, New York, Mr. Whiting was united in marriage to Miss Julia May. By her marriage she became the mother of a daughter and two sons: May, now the wife of G. W, S. Allen; James T., who is cashier of the National State Bank; and Harry, a medical missionary in Korea. Mr. Whiting bought the beautiful home that his widow still occupies, and there they spent their entire married life, which proved most congenial and happy.  His political support was given the to Republican party, but he was never an aspirant for office. One of the early members of the Presbyterian church, he served as ruling elder for many years, or until the time of his death, and was also a superintendent of the Sunday-school for a long period. He was a trustee of Parsons College, at Fairfield, Iowa, in which he was deeply interested, and he gave generous support to many public measures that had for their object the material progress, the social welfare or the intellectual and moral development of the community and state. Because of ill-health, he spent his last years in retirement from active business cares, and he passed away September 18, 1895, being in the sixty-first year of his age. His name is honored because of his noble qualities, and there were many strong elements in his life record that are worthy of emulation. While he won success, his business integrity and the respect of his friends was more to him than wealth, fame or position. He had due regard for the obligations of man toward his fellow men, and his path was never strewn with the wreck of the fortunes of others. Added to his irreproachable business integrity was a kindly spirit and generous disposition, which won him warm friendships, and his best traits of character were reserved for his own home and fireside.  ©2009 Genealogy Trails